Dear Friends,

We hope that you and your loved ones are staying safe and well during these exceptional circumstances.

Unfortunately due to the current Covid-19 pandemic and government restrictions in place, we have taken the very difficult decision to continue our temporary closure and we will be reviewing the situation week commencing 10th May 2020.

Whilst we are closed, orders will not be processed until we are able to re-open. The website is still operational should you wish to secure stock for a future delivery, any orders received during this time will be processed in order of the date they were received. In the meantime, if you are advertising products but do not have the stock available we kindly advise you to mark these as out of stock until we are able to reopen.

These are very challenging times for us all and we know that this may cause difficulties to some of our customers and we wholeheartedly thank you for your support and patience at this unprecedented time.

We can’t wait to get back to doing what we all love, in the meantime, please stay safe and take care of yourselves and your loved ones and we will be back to serve you as soon as we possibly can!

The Alchemy Team.

Dear Friends,

We at Alchemy feel extremely privileged to be able to count you amongst a very special group of people, you are what makes Alchemy extraordinary!

We have been serving you for almost 45 years and have no intention of stopping now, and intend to do so for many, many more – business as usual has become unusual!

We all face this unprecedented situation together. Fortunately here at Alchemy, we have the most exceptional, dedicated and experienced team of staff imaginable and to keep them safe and to help our government and NHS to limit the spread of this disease. We are now closed and will look to re-open Monday 20th April. This reopening date will be subject to government guidelines. And we will confirm this date in due course. This will enable our hard working team the time they need to look after their own well-being and that of their families too.

Please continue to order via your usual channels. If you wish to secure your stock then please order via the website. We will attend to any orders received during our closure period as soon as we return to the office.

During this short break our social channels will be as always fully active, so join the conversations and engage with us in the coming weeks – Now is the time to make our digital lives a positive place for all!

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you! Together let’s support one another, be kind and take care of those most vulnerable.

The Alchemy Team.

The pentagram, basically the graphic image of a five pointed star, has existed as a symbol for at least 2,000 – 5,000 years, when during the stone age it was carved into rock, no doubt with some spiritual tenor. Since then it has been in constant use by countless peoples and various ethno-religious and spiritual groups, perhaps most famously, the legendary King Solomon. These include the Greeks and the Babylonians for which it represented the five elements, (earth, air, fire, water and spirit), but also the Chinese, the Jews, the Christians, ancient folk communities everywhere and more recently, by occultists and spiritualists.

The following was adapted from an article originally posted at modellaesmeralda.blogspot.com.

This article is republished here with permission from the original author. You can read the full version by visiting their blog.

Disclaimer: This post contains advertisement – read more below.*

As every year, I have been shooting many photos for Alchemy England’s catalogues in 2019 and also got to wear their beautiful jewellery for other occasions. As I have been looking back on some old photos and finally started blogging again, I thought it would be a good idea to make a little feature with my favourite photos from this years’ shoots!

The Royal Armouries is one of the oldest museums in the world, founded in the 1400s in London’s famous White Tower, viewable by appointment only. By 1660, paying members of the public were invited to visit this extensive Royal collection of arms and armour. In 1991 a major shake-up was begun, and much of the collection moved to a purpose-built museum in the northern English city of Leeds, which opened to the public five years later. In recent years, the Armouries generated some controversy when they began to acquire weapons used on iconic TV shows and films, such as LORD OF THE RINGS and STAR WARS.

This Valentine is all about love, warm hugs, kisses and appreciation. Yes, yes, I am talking about the best witch familiar, the graveyard guardian, the Ancient Egyptian pride and absolute dark beauty: the cat. And if you’re not convinced yet, here are a few reasons why we should be celebrating Calentine from now on.

‘I love Christmas. People are jolly, happy, they gather around the table and eat, drink and laugh all day long. They eat lots of meat and sweets and become fatty and…juicy.’

Jolly Zombie

Once upon a time, before Christmas became sanitised, Americanised and candy-coated by Santa Claus and Coca Cola, in Europe Yuletide was more ominous, weird, and occasionally downright scary than jolly. Few are better qualified to explore the dark side of the holiday season than the Folk Horror Revival group. ‘Folk’ has recently become the hottest buzzword in horror circles, ‘folk horror’ the term to describe that elusive area where rural folklore and arcane tradition intertwine with the ghostly and ghastly on page and screen. In early December of this year the Folk Horror Revival group held a symposium on all things spooky and seasonal they entitled Winter Ghosts 2019.

There are still places in this dreary world where you can escape and live in the fantastical if even only for one night. To step out in your finery and be the belle (or beast should you fancy) for the darkened hours. Danza Della Luna – dance beneath the moon – is now in its third year and this was by far the most spectacular. Not only did the patrons literally gasp when they walked into the magnificent gold gilded ball rooms of the Opera Ghent but the subsequent oohs and ahhs as they admired each other’s guises for the night filled the space between the beautiful cello chords. The theme was “The Fallen” and feathers, skulls, and black bejewelled fabrics were the order of the night. The backdrop of shiny opulence and chandeliers twinkling in mirrored panels gave an eerie reverence to the darker figures milling within.

Some people don’t celebrate Halloween. They find it strange and scary. But, whatever their opinion they do celebrate it in the end…they just don’t realise it.

With Halloween just around the corner it seems like a good time to explore the history of the popular pumpkin-based lighting solution known as the jack-o’-lantern.

M’era Luna has always been about the people for me, and this year was no exception. Echoing the sentiment I hear over and over again from each festival goer I encounter: we are here to see old friends, make new ones and strengthen connections made over time and tide. But what makes this festival different from others is that this sentiment is not just shared amongst those on the ground but through the bands that play and into the festival organisation.

I look daily at the pictures we took together. Even though it hurts, I can’t live a day without looking at them, looking at your face and your smile. The world was at our feet back then and nothing could have stopped us. At least that’s what we thought.

You hated crowds so we always spent the evenings in beautiful and deserted places. We’d light a candle, put some music, dance and just dream, though our dream had already come true. We found each other.

A recent enquiry from a ‘friend of Alchemy’ based in Australia, referred to an item he’d bought some 30 years ago from a Metal For Melbourne fest in Australia. The image above accompanied the message. His query was its identity and, in particular regarding the branding stamp on the reverse which simply said ‘POKER’.

The early branding of Alchemy jewellery was different to today’s markings. The company’s origins were, as is the case with many nascent companies, not straightforward and its identity evolved over time.

The very first products which launched the venture, around 1976, were a small collection of punk ‘anti-jewellery’, irreverent pins and pendants such as a toilet seat, a graffitied padlock and a bent screw, all made one at a time, hand cast from scrap lead and designed to shock! These were branded as ‘Poker’, with the name hand carved into the back of each model. Then, in 1977, we rented a small shop with a little room for a workshop behind. We named the shop Rieder’s Axe and the company, Rieder Design, after one of our heroes; a revered late 15th century Austrian armourer Kaspar Rieder, from Muhlau, Innsbruck who was a master metalsmith in magnificent gothic style, by appointment to Emperor Maximilian I.